Although the immediate repeal of de minimis is on hold, the Trump administration has indicated that restrictions and regulatory changes are still coming.
U.S. President Donald Trump has temporarily paused the elimination of de minimis trade exemptions on Chinese imports.
An executive order, signed on Friday, states that de minimis treatment will remain in place for small packages from China but will be terminated once the Secretary of Commerce confirms that “adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue” on these shipments.
The decision to reverse the exemption follows Trump’s short-lived move last Saturday to revoke it as part of broader tariffs on Chinese imports, which included an additional 10% tax on Chinese goods.
In just over two weeks, Trump’s administration has introduced and then reversed major economic policies.
The de minimis provision allows items valued at less than $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free. Chinese e-commerce retailers that rely on direct-to-consumer shipping have been using this de minimis exemption rule as a loophole to ship goods into the U.S. without paying import duties.
The suspension of the de minimis exemption for low-value imports from China exposed significant challenges within U.S. federal agencies, particularly their readiness to handle the surge in tariff collections and customs processing.
Any increase in formal customs clearances and tariff enforcement can lead to processing delays and operational bottlenecks that affect both businesses and consumers.
For U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the sudden policy shift raised concerns that removing de minimis too quickly could overwhelm the agency. It is already processing over 1.3 billion de minimis shipments annually. With de minimis exemptions eliminated, the agency has to accommodate the increased volume of tariffed packages.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) also faced immediate disruptions when the de minimis exemptions on Chinese imports were temporarily eliminated.
USPS initially announced a halt on accepting inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong to be able to adapt to the new tariff requirements. However, this decision was quickly reversed.
“It’s one of those things where you put in any change so quickly it catches people unprepared,” said John Lash, group vice president of product strategy at e2open.
The growing scrutiny and uncertainty over U.S. trade policies has led Chinese e-commerce giants Temu and Shein to expand their U.S. operations to reduce dependence on the de minimis exemption.
Both companies have taken steps to localize fulfilment by adapting their business models.
Temu began onboarding Chinese sellers who store inventory in U.S. warehouses, which allows the company to fulfil orders domestically rather than shipping products individually from China.
By July 2024, 20% of Temu’s U.S. sales came “from local warehouses in the U.S., not China.”
Shein has also been working on strengthening its U.S. supply chain. The company opened distribution centers in Illinois and California in 2022.
In 2024, Shein launched a supply chain hub in Seattle to better store, process, and ship goods within the U.S. instead of relying on direct imports.
Andy Huang, SHEIN's head of U.S. fulfilment and logistics, stated in a press release, "The U.S. is an important market for SHEIN, and we are thrilled to establish a presence in the Seattle area as we continue enhancing our fulfilment process and improving the customer experience."
We’re following this story closely and will keep you updated. For more information about the impact on your business operations, please reach out to one of our trade professionals.